Invited speakers 2019

Keynote Speaker

Geoffrey Robertson AO QC is one of the world’s most celebrated human rights lawyers. He has been a UN war crimes judge, leading counsel in many notable Old Bailey trials, has defended hundreds of men facing death sentences in the Caribbean, and has won landmark rulings on civil liberty from the highest courts in Britain, Europe and the Commonwealth. He is founder and head of Doughty Street Chambers, a Master of the Bench at Middle Temple, a recorder, and a visiting professor at New College of the Humanities in London.

His book, Crimes Against Humanity, has been an inspiration for the global justice movement. His other books and publications include Freedom, the Individual and the Law; The Tyrannicide Brief; and The Inconvenient Genocide: Who Now Remembers the Armenians? His new book, Rather his Own Man: Reliable Memoirs, is a riveting autobiography bringing Mr Robertson’s fascinating and colourful career up to date following his acclaimed memoir, The Justice Game. His essay, “Tosca and the Ticking Time Bomb” in the Human Rights book on Torture, has been hailed as the best short refutation of excuses and justifications for the practice.

He has made many television and radio programmes, notably Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals, and has won a Freedom of Information award for his writing and broadcasting. In 2011, he received the New York State Bar Association’s Award for ‘Distinction in International Law and Affairs’, and was Australian Humanitarian of the Year in 2014 for his outstanding work as a human rights lawyer and advocate in courts throughout the world. In regard to human rights, Geoffrey Robertson has changed the way we think. His full biography can be found here.

Professor Raimond GaitaProfessional Fellow, Melbourne Law School and The Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne. Emeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy at King’s College, London. Senior Consulting Researcher, Centre for Ethics as Study of Human Value, University of Pardubice, Czech Republic